Page:Journal of the Straits Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society. (IA mobot31753002848262).pdf/16

 ), which ascends the rivers to a considerable distance during the breeding season. It arrives on the coast in enormous shoals, and twenty eight years ago, as Skeat has recorded, they were invariably taken in full roe, when they are in the best condition.

Recent reports show that Těrubok have fallen off both in quantity and, as the writer knows from his own experience, in quality, those now taken being mostly spent fish in which state they are positively unwholesome.

These fish used to be taken in such numbers that the nets contained more than the boats could load. Within the past few years the writer has, on several occasions, picked up these fish by hand in a dying condition apparently choked by silt in their attempt to ascend the rivers. Failing to ascend the rivers the Shad must either spawn in the sea or in the polluted lower reaches and in either case the eggs perish.

Unfortunately, the migrations of the Tĕrubok do not, as far as the writer's experience goes, take it to the East coast of the Peninsula, so that, the Tĕrubok fishery of Malaya appears to be in danger of extinction.

This introduction would not be complete without some mention of the conditions under which the transport of fish from the source to the consumer takes place.

There is a general agreement that transport is bad. Many schemes have been evolved for ensuring rapid transport and reduced prices, but none of them have been put into practice and probably none are commercially practicable. A permanent scheme is required that can be built up by degrees; the writer has advocated in two reports the use of cold storage. While allowing that the expenditure will be great we should not lose sight of the fact that it will be a permanent and sound investment.

Let us consider the existing conditions first.

In a temperate climate fish will keep fresh for days. Here, near the Equator, fish caught in the morning are in an advanced state of decomposition before the evening. Decay is arrested by the use of ice. For instance, ice manufactured in Kuala Lumpur is taken by train to Port Swettenham and sold to small middlemen who go to sea and purchase from the fishermen. These middlemen are bound as a rule to sell the fish to the ice dealers, who again sell to other middlemen, who sell to the retailers in the markets. The result is that fish costing $15 a pikul at sea cost $80 a pikul in Kuala Lumpur, 30 miles away.

Ice melts rapidly in the trains, in the boats, and in the markets. A box of fish must therefore contain an enormous proportion of ice to allow for wastage, and the fish instead of being fresh, cold, and wholesome are in a swollen and sodden condition.